Breed Suggestions!

JessLough

Love My Mutt
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#22
Oh come on, you know you want a Border Collie. Don't kid yourself. <3
My vote goes to Border Collie :D
Hahahaha enablers.


There may be tri-color border collie looking for a home that I may talk to my parents about fostering until a forever hone can be found. (She's older, but apparently needs more exercise than her current owner can give her. All expenses would be paid by current owner.)
 

Dizzy

Sit! Good dog.
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#26
Well, my collie was obsessive about my small furry animals... But that is just one dog... And the collies I've met recently have just been..... Wow. But I live in a place were most to all are farm bred, and wild. Screaming, insane wild. They've really put me off if I'm honest, and I've always liked collies!!!

There are so many breeds that would fit your bill. There was a briard puppy at training last week that was full of beans mad, but in that happy goofy way.

I'm 100% biased, but I've fallen in love with gsps big time, and gun dogs in general. I agree with the spaniel suggestions, they are a great size and great fun. My friend has a working bred springer and she's full on fun, would be amazing at sports.

English cockers are fun, in a fun sized package. But they involve grooming, blurgh. Brittany sounds like a good shout!

Or what about Aussie? Or working bred lab?
 

Laurelin

I'm All Ears
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#27
Also, I know Shelties were mentioned earlier. Mine were not small animal friendly at all. Nikki was not even cat safe. She would obsess at the hamster and chinchilla cages for hours if I let her. We had to really watch her and make sure she wasn't allowed or else she'd stress the chin. Trey actually pulled a lassie when the hamster escaped and came to us to show us. Nikki tried to kill the hamster. But she was very obsessive about small animals.
 
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#28

Red.Apricot

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#29
Also, I know Shelties were mentioned earlier. Mine were not small animal friendly at all. Nikki was not even cat safe. She would obsess at the hamster and chinchilla cages for hours if I let her. We had to really watch her and make sure she wasn't allowed or else she'd stress the chin. Trey actually pulled a lassie when the hamster escaped and came to us to show us. Nikki tried to kill the hamster. But she was very obsessive about small animals.
Yeah, my childhood sheltie knocked down my rabbit hutch and killed the rabbit in less than an hour while in the garage while repair men were in the house--we didn't think she could get up that high. :(

She also killed about a bajillion gophers in her lifetime.

But, that's just one sheltie.
 

skittledoo

Crazy naked dog lady
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#30
Siren fits all except I'm not sure how she'd be with the ferrets (Sometimes she makes me nervous when she looks at the cats, but we've got her to the point she knows good things happen when she ignores them) Also I don't think with Grace not in Mexico that it would be easy to find a Mexi Dog....
I'm friends on Facebook with Grace's mom and she crossposts mexidogs to me every so often so it wouldn't be too hard to find another one looking for a home if someone on here had their heart set on one.
 

Lizmo

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#32
Honestly, I wouldn't suggest Border Collie. For a couple reasons. One, a Border Collie pup/young adult is going to be a HUGE change in activity level/mental stimulation needs compared to living with an older dog for a number of years. I know you said you would like to pursue sports, which is great, but I think you can find what you're looking for in a less intense dog. Two, I do worry about the ferret issue. They could be fine with a little training, or it could blow up in your face easily depending on the dog and take alot of work to over come.

I would stick with a non-herding breed, personally, since you already have the ferrets. I second the idea for a small Golden-type. They'll be an easier breed to handle, energetic, handler focused, wouldn't be as ferret obsessed, and most certainly excel at sports.
 

Brattina88

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#33
Also, I know Shelties were mentioned earlier. Mine were not small animal friendly at all. Nikki was not even cat safe. She would obsess at the hamster and chinchilla cages for hours if I let her. We had to really watch her and make sure she wasn't allowed or else she'd stress the chin. Trey actually pulled a lassie when the hamster escaped and came to us to show us. Nikki tried to kill the hamster. But she was very obsessive about small animals.

That's kind of funny, i always smile when i think of our Nikki's ;)
My Nikki was fabulous with small animals, including my childhood ferret. She was good with kittens, hamsters, and moles too (yuk LOL). Bailey's the same way, the only difference is she's afraid of adult cats :rofl1: but that's how it goes, dogs are individuals. My parents have to GSDs, both pound rescues. One is great with everyone, even small animals, one is reactive to everyone and she'd kill a small animal in a heartbeat.

To be honest, I love researching for breeds, good breeders, etc... but my actual real vote for you Jess goes to a rescue mix FTW with a good stable tested temperament ! ;) maybe an alloftheabove mix lol
 

Shai

& the Muttly Crew
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#34
Just a note with gundogs since they've come up a few times:

A working line retriever is fairly likely to have huge prey drive. It manifests differently from the herders but it'll likely still take a fair amount of training to be sure they are safe together, even supervised. They may pick up the ferrets with a gentle mouth instead of a snap, but the ferrets are unlikely to appreciate the experience, regardless.
 

Aleron

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#35
I'd say a Collie (smooth or rough depending on what sort of coat care you'd prefer - mostly wash and wear but sheds tumbleweeds or less tumbleweeds but needs more regular brushing) seems to fit what you'd like, especially if you can find a breeder who does stuff with their's. My collie had a very high prey drive (as in, he would kill and eat small wild animals if given a chance) but he was excellent and always totally trustworthy with all household animals. He was great with my ferrets, would watch over my rabbit when they were both loose in the yard, accepted having cats without any issue. An English Shepherd could fit the bill too I think. My understanding is they are similar to Collies in that they are known for being gentle, social family dogs. I think a show bred Aussie from the right breeder could work too, most I have been around have been great with other dogs, people, animals and seem more "happy" and less serious than the working line ones I have known. And dogs from both show and working can do well in sports in that breed.

FWIW Every BC I had in my house obsessed over my ferrets in a big way. I have pictures of at least one of them in BC stalk mode staring at the ferrets in their cage and she would do that for hours if allowed. None of them were not raised with small furry animals though, so I'm sure it could be managed/worked with a bit better if they were. But yeah, ferrets especially seem to make BCs crazy (must be their weasel-y motion!) or at least the ones I knew well.
 

Finkie_Mom

It's A Red Dog Revolution
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#36
Kimma is ferret-friendly! And even though they are bred to hunt birds/small game, my guys were all just fine with the parakeets at my In-Laws' while we lived there for about 8 months. Though I'm not sure a Finkie would meet all of your other requirements :/
 

Sit Stay

Not a Border Collie
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#39
My first thought was ES (duhhh) or BC. Sounds like quite a few breeds would fit your needs, though!
 

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